Friday, June 29, 2012

Clafouti and Thank You, Judith Jones

Food lovers and the literary world owe a debt of gratitude
to Judith Jones.

Number eight on the Gourmet Live 50 Women Game-Changers
list, Jones is responsible not only for bringing Julia Child to the attention
of the world with one of the best-known cookbooks of all time, but she also is gave
us Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl.
She is senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf, where she helped
develop the cookbooks of other well-known chefs, such as Lidia Bastianich,
James Beard, Marion Cunningham, Jacques Pepin, Marcella Hazen, and Madhur
Jaffrey. Plus, she is an author in her own right, with the books such as her
autobiography The Tenth Muse: My Life in
Food, and cookbooks like The
Pleasures of Cooking for One and The
Book of New New England Cookery. (Image is from Jones's website.)

For me, I will be forever grateful to Jones for seeing the possibilities
in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Julia Child is one of my personal heroes, and if Jones hadn’t championed her
efforts, we may never have met this dynamic cook.

Thank you, Judith Jones.

In her honor, and because cherries are coming into season, I
decided to make Clafouti from Mastering.
The aroma of cherries and vanilla filled our apartment as it baked. Though not
the prettiest dessert, which may be why the recipe calls for a dusting of powdered
sugar over the top, the flavor was wonderful. Its texture is somewhere between custard
and a tart. The whole cherries make it a little difficult to cut, but plunge
ahead and don’t worry about the look. The taste is worth it! I served it warm
as a dessert, but I saw other cooks suggest eating it for breakfast.

Can’t wait for tomorrow morning to get here.

On the other hand, maybe I’ll just have seconds.

Clafouti

(Cherry Flan)
Adapted from Mastering
the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette
Bertholle.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 7- to
8-cup baking dish or a Pyrex pie plate that is 1 1/2-inches deep. (I used the
pie plate.)

Put into a blender (or large bowl) the milk, granulated
sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and flour. Blend for 1 minute until smooth. (I used
a hand blender for 2 minutes.)

Pour a 1/4-inch layer of batter into the baking dish. Place
into the oven a bake until just set, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and
add the cherries. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup sugar over the top, and then
pour on the rest of the batter. Place the dish back into the oven and bake
until the clafouti is buffed and browned, and a knife placed in the center
comes out clean. The cookbook says it should take about an hour. Mine took 45
minutes, so keep an eye on it!

I haven't been following the Gourmet Game Changers list but I must say, there are a few on that list which I do admire and Judith Jones is certainly one of them. As you say Linda, she is sometimes in the shadows so I am delighted to see a tribute to her and some of her accomplishments.

I adore Judith Jones' attitude and adventurous spirit ... her autobiography/memoir 'The Tenth Muse- My Life in Food' is an excellent read ...your clafouti is the perfect dish for this time of year! Cherries are plentiful right now! Just gorgeous, Linda! Enjoy!